John


I wouldn't worry Beepster. They know its a very few that seem not to get it.

After reading Heather's the pic post where I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter then I read her second one above. Which also was too funny. With her posts I don't think we have anything to worry about. heck, I think between you and heather CW is probably ROTFL!!!! I think they are having a ball reading this thread.

Beepster


A suitable keyboard controller is gonna be another few months (at least) of research. I can't afford anything right now so I'll take my time on that one. As far as V-Drum stuff... I meant the actual hardware. It seems to be the best on the market as far as realism (both for playing and MIDI reproduction). That stuff is DEFINITELY gonna have to wait though. The set up I'd like is gonna be at least a grand or so. I'll probably build it in pieces. Start with the nice kick, snare, ride and high hat modules and add onto it. We'll see.

We're just very unhappy that we were conned, deceived, mislead and cheated.

Maybe some of us should put our heads together and file a Class Action Lawsuit against Cakewalk.

IDK, man. I'm no expert as far as keyboards and stuff but I find M-Audio to be kind of a middle of the road solution in many cases. Really they were quality budget gear back in the day (and still are to an extent) but... yeah... IDK I think they have over extended themselves and gotten a little too big for their britches and "Jack of all Tradesy". Nothing wrong with that and there are M-Audio devices I'm looking into but I just think Roland or other companies are probably better at this kind of thing. They've been in the keyboard racket FAR longer and they build their instruments like tanks. I want to be able to punch the crap out of my keyboard and not worry about breaking something. That goes triple for e-drum stuff. Yanno? I'm kind of a spazz when I get going.

trimph1


I've been looking at the V-20 interface myself...think that might work in this place....

Beepster


Darnit guys... we had this thread more or less derailed! Let's talk about keyboards some more. I may consider a modern Yamaha. Now THAT is a company that excels at Jack of all tradesiness. :-p

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk
]

paulo

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk
]

paulo

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk
]

paulo

chuckebaby

paulo

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk
]

We try to be fair to all our existing customers. In 2012, we have offered many special deals including the $10 for 10 days (which was meant to be fair to everyone who had purchased). We also recently did a spring sale for 30% off select products, the Advanced Workshop Giveaway, the 26.2% global sale, just to name a few. In addition, we try to maintain very fair upgrade prices and reward customers who spend a lot of money. We have also made a big effort in making new videos and resources available (like CakeTV, the Welcome Kit). We value your business and are always thinking of ways to reward loyal customers. At the same time, we are a business and can't be giving away everything for free. I hope you all can appreciate how much time and effort is spent in trying to make our customers happy. That's not only applies to sales but products as well. We listen to customer feedback and are probably one of the only companies that actually addresses customers on their public forums and tries to help out customers having issues (when possible).

Unless of course they live outside of USA in which case we will charge them more for the same thing.

You forgot that bit ;)

if i was to buy a product from another country i would exspect to pay for an imported item.
wouldnt you?

i mean i just bought some german equipment,do you think i paid what the folks in germany paid?
i would think not.
what about the import taxes and other import charges,yes even for electronic downloads.
their fee's set up by your goverment and mine.

sure they will wave that,then your paying less for sonarthen i am,how fair is that?

Physical stuff I have no issue with - of course I expect to pay for shipping something halfway round the world. A download is a download - other companies manage it perfectly well and let non US customers pay the $ price.

We have to charge VAT on all products sold into Europe. That's the main reason for the price difference in Europe.  

Erm...... Sonar First Class Upgrade  $99 or £89.

$99 = £64.  VAT @20% = £12.80   which makes £76.80 total.

So even allowing for VAT the UK price for still has almost 20% added on top of the US price.

BTW you are correct in that your invoices do state that prices include VAT. What is missing form the invoice is your VAT registration number, a legal requirement if you are VAT registered.

FWIW, I'm not just here just to bash CW.  Sonar is great IMHO and I still think it's a pretty good price for what you are getting, but the price sends the wrong message to non-US customers. I'll be sticking with 8.5PE for now because of this and the console view in X1 - yeeeuwww ! Shame as the pro-channel and new media browser are big advances, but the CV is just not doing it for me. Please bring back the custom colours function.

That price of SONAR X1 was set back in 2010 when we released. We can't control currency flucuations, and we do have to pick a set price. However, we do try and adjust when new products come out. For example, the PC2A T-Type Leveling Amplifier is $79 USD. The price with VAT converted in US dollars would be $95. Right now the price is £59, which is $92. For Euros, the price is 69 Euros, which is $86. So it's actually a little less. You will see with new products released this year and last year, the prices are very comparable. Next year, it could be totally different and maybe we'll have this conversation again :)

Thank you for continuing to respond. As I said, I'm not here to just to bash you, but this issue does keep getting swept under the carpet year after year, so I'm making the most of it while someone is talking about it.  The $99 / £89 price is "special offer" price from an email  that Cakewalk sent me a few days ago, not from 2010. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates would not be an issue for you if you allowed all customers to pay in $ as other US based companies do. The currency conversion is then  handled at the prevailing market rate by the credit card company, so you still your full price in $ and we would get a better and more transparent deal than a 20% mark up in case the rates go against you at some point. 

In many ways Cakewalk comes across as a very open an accesible company, more so than I have ever experienced, which is to your immense credit. You do so many things so well and better than so many. It's a great product and I'm sure it will only get better. It's just a shame that you let yourselves down with this pricing issue when it's so easily solvable if there truly isn't another hidden agenda to make a few more $ out of non US customers.

$99 / £89 price is "special offer" price from an

 
The special offer is the upgrade to the next version, not the pricing. You are buying all versions of SONAR X1 at their current price that was set when we launched and getting bumped up to the next version.

HeatherHaze

If you want to try something REALLY small and cool check out the Korg Nano series...

 
I just picked up the Korg NanoPAD2 for tapping out drums, timpani and that sort of thing.  It's cool and does what I need, but I've noticed the centers of the pads aren't very responsive.  The edges work fine, so it's still perfectly usable, but I found that surprising and counter-intuitive.  I'm not sure if the NanoKEY2 would suffer from a similar issue or not, but for the size (and price) it could be perfect for travel.
 
For small controller keyboards, I've used my Oxygen 8 for years (25 keys).  I have to say, it's not very well-constructed.  I've had to take it apart and fiddle with the potentiometers a bit, as their values had a tendency to jump around for no apparent reason.  I'm pretty sure I just got a lemon, though (it happens) and the newer models look a lot better. 
 
If I replace my Oxygen, however, I'm looking at the Akai Professional MPK Mini.  It's in the same price range and similar features, but includes a bank of 8 pads.  What it doesn't have, however, is pitch bend and mod wheels...which might be sort of a deal breaker.  Otherwise, it looks great. 
 
Finally, if you have an iPad or similar device, you could always go with a "virtual" keyboard app.  Some of them are quite usable and, while no substitute for the real thing, might do in a pinch.